


Hanging By A Moment

by highqualitynot



Series: highqualitynot's Parkner Week 2019 [1]
Category: Marvel, Marvel Cinematic Universe, Spider-Man (Tom Holland Movies)
Genre: Getting Together, Identity Porn, Idiots in Love, M/M, Not Canon Compliant, One Shot, Sappy, Secret Identity, Tooth-Rotting Fluff, but then again is ANYTHING i write canon compliant? naw, this is probably the sappiest shit i've ever written
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-02
Updated: 2019-08-02
Packaged: 2020-07-29 17:03:42
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,601
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20085712
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/highqualitynot/pseuds/highqualitynot
Summary: Peter is in love with Harley. Iron Lad is in love with Spider-Man.Everything's a mess, but everything's perfect, too.---parkner week 2019 day 1 - parades,identity porn, road work ahead





	Hanging By A Moment

**Author's Note:**

> OH FUCK ITS FINALLY THE FIRST DAY OF PARKNER WEEK!!! 
> 
> ive been losing my mind over this for at least two weeks now and its finally time!!!!! this first one is just a sappy cute lil one shot to fit the prompt nicely. not a biggie. also probably not my best work because i was trying to make it different from the other fic im currently writing which contains A Lot of Identity Shenanigans. 
> 
> check out the spotify playlist for my parkner week fics [ here! ](https://open.spotify.com/playlist/1Ftf5aR07Ha3KcCtfjUe14)
> 
> hint hint nudge nudge all the songs are already there! all 10. so you know the titles of the upcoming fics.
> 
> give some love to the love of my life [harp](https://archiveofourown.org/users/aroacewritingplace) , who betaed this fic, because they're fantastic.

The pleasant buzz of classroom conversation was intercepted, as it always was, by Harley’s newest Third Period Hot Take. 

During famous third periods of the past, Harley had explained his opinions on everything from garlic bread (amazing) to snapchat streaks (annoying). 

“Spider-Man is like, the coolest hero ever.” 

Peter nodded in slight confusion, watching Harley crumple a piece of his notes and toss it into the recycling bin. He made a mental note to send Harley pictures of his own notebook that evening.

“Why’s that?” He asked.

“He’s nice, heroic,” Harley started. 

“Most superheroes are nice and heroic,” Ned added. Harley replied with a glare. 

“But Spider-Man is the nicest, and the most heroic, and he could also like, totally get it,” Harley said, swinging his legs up to rest on his desk rebelliously.

Peter choked on nothing. Harley thought Spider-Man was hot? “Well, have you _met_ Spider-Man before? Apparently you know him… pretty well.”

Of course he knew that Harley knew Spider-Man. Stark Industries parties often involved the invitation of most superheroes. And Harley was the heir to the company, so he was usually there too. The only hero who never showed up was Iron Lad, but Iron Lad did whatever he pleased. 

Well, and there were the multiple times he had gone to the roof of Stark Tower and flirted with Harley, called him princess. That was certainly knowing him pretty well.

“I… uh. We’ve met,” Harley said. “He’s pretty great.” 

Not as great as me, Peter thought, then jerked back in confusion when he realized he was being jealous of himself. 

One part of himself. Spider-Man was just one facet of who he was. Peter Parker was his true identity. 

If he wanted Harley to truly fall in love with him, it had to be with Peter, not with Spider-Man. 

\---

“Evening, Spidey. Anything new?” Iron Lad asked, landing as gracefully as he could on the rooftop where Spider-Man was perched. 

Spider-Man groaned. “Just… personal life stuff. Nothing patrol related.”

Maybe it was a little bit selfish of Harley to want to find out who Spider-Man was behind the mask. He had a right to his privacy, of course. 

More than anything, Harley wanted to know what the person he fell in love with looked like. He wanted to know his real name, meet his friends and family, understand him on a level Iron Lad hadn't yet reached.

“You know you can talk to me about personal life stuff,” Iron Lad said. “I have one of those too, actually.” 

Spider-Man seemed to release all the tension in his shoulders, drooping like an overwatered plant. “Okay. Why not?”

Harley tried his best to nod encouragingly, but the Iron Lad suit made it a little difficult. He sat down beside Spidey. 

“So, there's this guy…”

Harley snorted. 

“Well, I’m not gonna tell you if you laugh!” 

“I’m sorry!” He said. “It’s just… ‘there's this guy…’! You sound like a middle schooler.”

Spider-Man must have been rolling his eyes under the suit. “Well. There _is_ a guy, and I like him. A lot. Like, ‘I want to have his babies’, a lot.”

The pang in Harley's heart grew from a simple steady pain to an incinerating blast. He swallowed down the sudden burst of emotions. Iron Lad was trying to be there for his friend, not think about how miserable it was that the guy Spider-Man liked wasn't him.

“Okay. So tell him.” Harley winced at his own words, horrified. He didn't want that to happen. 

“I can't!” Spider-Man turned his head away. “This is gonna sound so weird… he only likes one part of me, not all of me, so I know he’d reject me if I asked.” 

Harley put a hand on Spidey’s shoulder, hoping the cool metal could be at least slightly comforting. “If he doesn't love you for who you are, you shouldn't waste your time on him.”

Spider-Man blinked his eye lenses at Iron Lad. “And what, spend it on you?” 

He was standing at that point, pacing up and down the building. Harley stood up as well, trying to look him in the eyes. 

“Yes! Well, no. Not… that’s not what I meant.”

“That is what you meant!” Spider-Man said. “I get that you’re flirty. I get it. Just… I already like someone else, okay!”

“You just said he doesn't like all of you!” Harley blurted. “You should have someone who does!”

He threw his arm out, fingers already on his webshooters. “Iron Lad, you don't even know my name. You don't exactly qualify for ‘liking all of me’ anyway.”

“Spidey, wait! I’m sorry!” 

By that point, the other hero was already halfway down the block and ignoring him stoically. Harley flew back to Stark Tower miserably.

\---

Harley sat alone on the roof, a book in his hand, an upset look on his face. 

Spider-Man landed gracefully near him, still a little angry, but mostly at himself by then. Harley looked absolutely miserable, even though his book, The Gentleman’s Guide to Vice and Virtue, was a romantic one. 

This was a typical place for Harley to spend his time, whatever sort of mood he was in. In the past, Spider-Man had swung him around the city, flirting with him until he blushed that beautiful shade of pink. 

“Are you alright, princess?” He asked Harley. 

Harley’s eyes went wide with shock. Out of some form of confused reflex, he threw his book dramatically. It sailed off the edge of the tower, plummeting towards the ground. 

Spider-Man shot out a web to catch it and returned it safely to its owner. Harley looked amazed, a pink flush high on his cheekbones. Spider-Man smiled like an idiot under the mask. 

“Thanks, Spider-Man,” he said, a soft smile on his face.

“No problem.”

“Can I ask… what it is you're doing here?” Harley said. 

“Mostly feeling guilty,” Spider-Man admitted. “I screwed up talking with my partner. He was just trying to be nice, and I took it the wrong way.”

“Your partner is Iron Lad, right?” Harley said. “We’ve, uh… we've met. I’m sure if you just go talk to him, he’ll understand.” 

He ran a hand through his already messy hair, freed from its ponytail and set loose in curls so beautiful they were completely torturous for Spider-Man to endure seeing. 

“Hopefully,” Spider-Man murmured, wanting Harley so much he could barely speak any longer. 

“What are you waiting for?” Harley asked. “Go call him. Or text him. I don't know how superheroes... communicate! Just talk to him.”

Spider-Man placed a hand on his shoulder. “Thank you, princess.”

Was he dreaming, or was some of his own want reflected in those blue eyes? 

“I… uh. It’s no problem,” Harley said. 

Spider-Man maneuvered his eye lenses to wink at his crush. He stepped to the edge of the building, and leaped off, falling backward, arms crossed behind his head. 

Harley leaned over the edge of the building, watching him go. Spider-Man gave a two-fingered mock salute, hooking a web to the next building over. 

He had to call Iron Lad.

\---

“What are you doing up here?” 

Peter whirled around to see Iron Lad landing on the fire escape next to him. This was his apartment building, after all, but then where was Spider-Man? 

The other hero had asked him to come, insisting that he needed to talk to him. Harley’s conversation with Spidey outside the suit indicated that he was going to apologize, and so he had waited by his phone desperately hoping Spider-Man would call. 

By midnight, he was growing worried, but he received a text a few minutes later telling him where to go. So where was the object of his affections? 

As it turned out, right in front of him. Peter held up Spider-Man’s mask, a worried expression pinching his brows together. 

“I’m really sorry. I’ve spent so long trying to hide my personal life and who I am from you. You’re… you’re my partner, Iron Lad,” Peter said. Harley held his breath, heart stuttering its opinion. “I got defensive and lashed out when I should have been honest with you from the start. This is who I am. Peter Parker. Just a regular guy.”

“And you’re Spider-Man,” Harley said. “You’re Peter and you’re Spider-Man. Not just one or the other. You’re a cute nerd who makes me smile and you’re a great superhero who helps me save people. You’re _you_.”

Peter’s cheeks flushed pink. He looked absolutely amazed. “Iron Lad…”

Harley admired the view for a while before realizing he had called Peter a cute nerd who made him smile. It was true, obviously, but Iron Lad had never met Peter before. 

He took a deep breath. 

“You’ve unmasked yourself. I think it's only fair I return the favour,” Harley said. He pressed his watch, and his suit melted off his body. 

“Harley?” Peter took a delicate step forward. He cupped Harley’s face in his hands, an awed smile on his face. “It’s been you?”

“It’s been me. It’s always been me.”

“Princess,” Peter breathed, rubbing his thumb across Harley’s cheekbone. “Can I… can I kiss you?

Harley closed his eyes and pressed their lips together, and everything was fireworks. Everything was Peter’s hands getting tangled in his hair, Peter’s heart beating, Peter’s lips on his. 

Gently, Peter pulled back. He gave Harley a dazzling smile. “I’ve been wanting to do that for a really, really long time.”

“My partner…” Harley murmured, giddy with happiness. “It’s always been you.”

Everything is you, he thought. Everything. 

Peter kissed him again. And again, and again. And everything was perfect.

**Author's Note:**

> follow me on tumblr [ @high-quality-not ](https://high-quality-not.tumblr.com/)
> 
> and check out the playlist if you havent already. yes i will keep pestering you. [ look at it! ](https://open.spotify.com/playlist/1Ftf5aR07Ha3KcCtfjUe14)
> 
> also the only reason this is even a little bit competent is because of my amazing beta, [harp](https://archiveofourown.org/users/aroacewritingplace) so like. appreciate harp for being the best as usual! 
> 
> i hope you enjoyed! this is my first time participating in a big fandom event like this so. lets hope this all goes well.


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